Social network monitoring firm Inside Network sold for $14M

Inside Network is like the bible for people who want to know everything about Facebook, social games, mobile apps and the virtual economy. Evidently, it’s a good business, since the company has just been sold for $14 million in cash and stock.

WebMediaBrands, a publicly trade company in New York, bought Palo Alto, Calif.-based Inside Network as part of its expansion into social media, said Justin Smith, founder of Inside Network, in an interview.

Smith (pictured left) said that Inside Network’s full team of six full-time employees will join WebMediaBrands. That staff includes former VentureBeat writers Eric Eldon and Kim-Mai Cutler. Eldon (pictured right) is editor of Inside Network’s news sites such as Inside Facebook and Inside Social Games. Cutler is lead writer for Inside Mobile Apps.

Smith said that both companies will combine their resources to focus on the growth of the social apps economy. Besides running its news sites, Inside Network also puts on events such as Inside Social Apps and publishes research through AppData, which gathers stats on Facebook apps. Inside Network also publishes reports on the size of the virtual goods business and does other research. Smith said he was looking forward to continuing to build out the business with more resources.

WebMediaBrands also bought Social Times (which ran rival site AllFacebook) in December, 2009. Congratulations to our former colleagues!